STEPHENS CITY — Before the boys’ basketball game between Sherando and James Wood on Friday night, Sherando honored 12 senior athletes participating in their final year as a Warrior, with six of them being on the boys’ basketball team.
The Warriors wound up having a lot to celebrate because of their play throughout the boys’ game, giving the seniors a night they will never forget.
Led by senior Sean Benton’s game-high 23 points, Sherando outscored the Colonels 20-2 in the second quarter and rolled to a very comfortable and impressive 76-37 victory. The Warriors swept the season series with Wood and regained the top spot in the Region 4D North standings.
The first time Sherando and James Wood met on Dec. 12, the Warriors had to fight off a fierce James Wood rally to escape with a 51-49 victory.
“The guys were able to put one together, things were clicking for us, and we were able to just keep it rolling,” Sherando coach Garland Williams said. “I think our guys have really come together a little better since the first time we played them. With the snow coming and having the bad taste of a loss [Wednesday to Fauquier], we stressed the importance that we had to get one tonight, especially at your place.
“We tried to put a little pressure to see if we could get them rattled a little bit and we were able to get a couple of balls and get some easy buckets out of it. The guys did a good job with the pressure, but their two guards [Brodie Sirbaugh and Ashby Copenhaver], they’re pretty tough. They were still able to get by several times and score against us.”
For the Warriors (12-5), the win closed out a busy last three days in which they finished with two wins and a loss. They’ve won seven of their last eight games. James Wood (3-11) snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over Kettle Run Tuesday night.
James Wood led 9-7 at the 2:12 mark on a free throw line jumper by Copenhaver. The Warriors tied the game for the third and final time (9-9) on a layup by senior Jackson Ogle with 1:54 left in the first. Less than a minute later, junior Reth Puller (12 points) buried a 3-pointer to give the Warriors the lead for good (12-9).
Sherando closed the first quarter on a 6-2 run and took a 15-11 lead into the second quarter. The Warriors then went on a dominating and demoralizing run that put the game on ice by halftime.
Freshman Moses Hughes (13 points) hit a 3-pointer to open the second quarter that jump-started a 15-0 run. Hughes scored the first five points, Benton scored the next seven, then Puller hit another 3-pointer to cap the run and make it 30-11 with 3:53 left in the half.
During that stretch, James Wood missed five shots and had seven turnovers. The Colonels hit only 1 of 9 field goal attempts in the quarter. It wasn’t until there was only 2:02 left in the half that the Colonels finally ended the run on a field goal by Copenhaver.
The Warriors closed the half on a 5-0 run and cruised into the break with a comfortable 35-13 advantage.
“At the end of the day, I think we were getting some pretty good looks, but the shots just weren’t falling,” James Wood interim head coach Paul Hvozdovic said. “Their ball pressure was a big impact, and offensively, we weren’t executing like we know we can. Matchup-wise, they’re a very lanky and well-coached ball club. We can’t afford to slip up if we want to stay in the ball game with them.”
Benton scored 11 points in the third quarter. The Warriors continued to expand their lead, outscoring Wood 20-11 in the quarter.
After Benton hit a 3-pointer to open the second half, back-to-back buckets by Sirbaugh and Copenhaver pulled Wood to within 38-17.
Benton scored the next eight points as part of a 12-0 run to push the lead to 50-17 with 2:48 left in the quarter. Hughes scored the other four points.
The Warriors held a 55-24 lead after three quarters.
Sherando opened the fourth with another gut punch to the Colonels, going on an 11-0 run to build their biggest lead of the game (66-24). Three players scored during the run.
With 4:48 remaining and a 42-point lead, Williams called timeout and cleared his bench. James Wood then outscored the Sherando reserves 13-10 for the final score of 76-37.
“We feel like we’ve got some stuff rolling,” Williams said. “The snow is going to slow us up a bit, but hopefully we can get some practice time and keep things going. We’ve got a stretch coming with Handley down the road and five or six other games, but we just take one game at a time now.”
Sherando’s next scheduled game is next Friday at home against Handley.
Copenhaver led the way for the Colonels with 17 points. Sirbaugh had 13. The Colonels are next scheduled to play Wednesday at home against Strasburg. James Wood has lost five games by less than seven points this year, and it will try to beat a Rams team it lost to 56-38 on Jan. 3.
“We’re going to handle this snowstorm and get back to playing Colonel basketball next week against Strasburg,” Hvozdovic said. “We’ve been in some incredibly tight ball games, and we’ve just have to play clean basketball if we want an opportunity to win the game.”